Dani Day!

Photo by Lindsay Beyerstein

I Can't Take Gilly's Picture Down Today

It remains at the top of the blog. Today is also significant to me because this marks one year since my precious niece, and co-conspirator of all things delectable in the kitchen, Dani came into our lives. My sister has always been one of the "Supermoms." She devoted herself, body and soul, liver and spleen, mind and medulla oblongata to being the best mom she could be. Thing was, her only child, my nephew, did what kids do. He grew up. He moved away.

She was at loose ends to say the least. Noting the gap in her life she applied for, and received certification from the Child Protective Services to become a foster mom with the eye toward adoption. She had kept a few kids for short periods of family crisis time, they would stay and benefit from actual mothering and having somebody care about them. Then, they would leave, either for a permanent placement, or go back to their home when things had settled down.

Then, one year ago today, she was called at work. They told her that they had a "special case." A little girl had been given a surprise visit by a social worker. The adoptive process was about to come through for her previous placement, and the case worker was in the neighborhood. He said "Something told me to do a drive by and look in." He's never told us what he saw, he snatched that little girl the fuck out of there tout de suite. They were on their way to my sister's house. She told her supervisor (she's a nurse in the prison system) that she was clocking out. They were outside in the social worker's car, waiting, when she drove up.

This little girl. With nothing but the clothes (and shabby clothes at that) on her back. Came into our lives that day. About fifteen minutes after the social worker had left, Dani plopped herself down on the couch next to my sister and plain as day said:

I'm 'doptable you know.

You're damned right we know my darling!




We're going out to dinner tonight to celebrate this day. We're going to Sizzler on account of Dani has a certificate for a free dinner there that she wants to use. She got it for being voted "Student of the Month" by her classmates at her school.

Student of the Month! She's the Girl of the Year! Instead of her usual thing of coming to spend the afternoon with me on Thursdays, in honor of the special day, her brother has taken her to the arcade. Games galore. I've been in the kitchen, making her special request cake.

INGREDIENTS FOR DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (NOT Dutch Process this time, use the Hershey's)
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup softened unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar (I use C&H Baker's sugar)
4 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350°, grease and flour two cake pans, whisk the cup of boiling water into the cocoa until smooth and glossy. Whisk in the vanilla and milk. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugars together until uniform consistency, light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well until very smooth. Scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl often.

Sift the flour, soda, and salt together, then alternate adding the dry with the cocoa mixture into to it. Scrape down the sides and the mixer blade. When all is in, beat on highest setting for five minutes. Divide into the cake pans and cook at 350° for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake layer comes out clean.

Cool on a rack in the pan for ten minutes. Remove from the pan and rack cool until totally cooled. Frost with:

INGREDIENTS FOR CREAM CHEESE BITTERSWEET FROSTING

1 pound softened cream cheese
1 cup softened unsalted butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound melted bittersweet chocolate

If you're saying to yourself, "Gee, that looks just like the white chocolate frosting we put on the Red Velvet Cake." Then give yourself a brownie point for being an observant sort.

The only difference in this frosting and the last one is that we're using bittersweet chocolate instead of white chocolate. The result is a stiff, sturdy frosting, bursting with wonderful chocolate flavor.

Mix the butter and cream cheese together until smooth and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar a cup at a time, mixing very well, last, add in the vanilla.

Chunk up the bittersweet chocolate (I used Trader Joe's Pound Plus 73% cocoa mass chocolate, it's the same stuff I use for my truffles) and nuke it in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring well between each zap. When the chocolate is thoroughly melted add it into the stuff in the mixer, and whip until totally mixed. Refrigerate to stiffen. This takes about the same amount of time as it takes for the cake to cool. That's pretty much perfect don't you think?

Frost the cake, proudly bring it to the guest of honor. Accept your accolades with either real or feigned humility. You've earned it.

Happy Dani Day to all ya'll.

UPDATE!!!!

Pics of the finished product. . .(the cookies are some Mexican sugar cookies with the excess frosting between them making chocolate frosting sandwiches. . . part of a good breakfast sez I)



AND OF COURSE!
The founder of our feast,
the wonderful, totally cute, wicked smart, apple of my eye. . .

Kilkii Dani'oshonni Ga'age
(Girl Loved by the Ravens)

Cake for Everybody!

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Cooking With Dani (Let Them Eat Cake! edition)

Red Velvet Cake!

This is my Grammy Anna's recipie. Dani has been fascinated by one picture we have of Grammy. She's standing on the steps of the trading post with some other Apache women. They are all wearing Suffragette Sashes. Very visible in Grammy's high top moccasin is the huge ass handle of a huge ass bowie knife (actually about the size of a Roman Gladius). She was not a woman to be trifled with.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKE

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine salt (sea or kosher salt works best)
1 tablespoon dutch process cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups melted, unsalted butter (yeah, this is a suthron cake)
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring (1 ounce)
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sift the dry ingredients together three times, or more if needed. We want an even mixing of all.


Mix, on stir, in a stand mixer, all the liquid ingredients. When they are well blended, add in the dry mix a cup at a time, stirring well each time. Scrape down the bowl and the beater from time to time. We want smooooooooth.




Move into two buttered and floured cake pans (or use Baker's Joy® spray, I loves me some of that stuff). Spread evenly and smooth.



Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Immediately remove from the pans, and cool completely on a rack. The following picture shows Dani reacting with joy as the timer counts down its last ten seconds.

Then, the cake layers cool on the rack.



When completely cooled, frost with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

INGREDIENTS

1 pound cream cheese, softened
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound melted white chocolate

To melt the white chocolate, cut into chunks, or use white chocolate chips, place in a microwave safe bowl and zap it on high for 30 second increments, stirring in between each, until completely melted and smooth.

Mix the cream cheese and butter together, add in the vanilla extract, add in the powdered sugar, keeping the speed low to avoid tossing powdered sugar all over your kitchen. When all is incorporated, add in the melted white chocolate and turn the mixer speed up to annhilate. Whip the shit out of it until it is stiff, and stable. (about five minutes)
Turn into a tightly covered container and refrigerate.



I'm proud to say that Dani has become a "Clean As You Go Girl!" type of cook. Here, she is dilligently cleaning the white chocolate off of the spatula and bowl.



Of course, she pulls her own weight cleaning counters too.


Frost the cake. Do the top of the bottom layer first. This is a stiff frosting, you have to really glob it on. The good part about that is that it works like a mortar.


Put the second layer on, and frost the top and the sides of that. Don't forget to be very proud of yourself!


Next, garnish the top with pecan halves and shout "Take THAT Paula Deen!"

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Cooking With Dani (special Pie edition)

Chocolate Pecan and Maple Walnut Pie

The first thing you have to do is make a crust.

That's a good one. Sturdy, but tender, and also flaky.

Roll out enough to cover a pie pan. For this one though, I'm using a deep tart pan. No particular reason, it's my kitchen, my pies, I like it, 'nuff said yo.

When the crust is in the pan, take a paper towel or piece of parchment paper and put that over the crust. Weight it down with some beans, or other dried stuff. This will keep your crust from bubbling up and getting all leakey and stuff.


Bake this in a 425° oven for 20 minutes. Cool on a rack.

INGREDIENTS FOR CHOCOLATE PECAN PIE

1 1/2 cups pecan halves
1/3 cup lightly spooned Dutch Process Cocoa
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup Lyle's Golden Syrup (cane syrup, not corn syrup works best)
The Brits call this stuff Treacle and it also makes killer puddings
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
4 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350° with the rack in the middle.

Arrange the pecan halves on the bottom of the prebaked pie crust.


In a medium non-reactive saucepan, mix the cocoa, egg yolks, syrup, butter, cream and salt.




Cook over moderately low heat. Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until everything is smooth, glossy, very uniform in color and hot to touch (140° on a candy thermometer), about 4 or 5 minutes.


Add in the vanilla and slowly pour over the nuts, coating the entire upper surface.


Shield the crust edge with foil. Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes. The filling should be puffy but still soft enough to jiggle when touched.

Cool on a rack for at least 45 minutes. Be prepared to use violence if neccessary.

INGREDIENTS FOR MAPLE WALNUT PIE

1 1/2 cups walnut halves
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup maple sugar (if using regular sugar increase maple extract to 1 full tsp)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
pinch salt
3 teaspoons Calvados
1/2 to 1 teaspoon maple extract

The steps for making this pie are exactly the same as for the Chocolate Pecan.



Serve with fresh whipped cream. Bask in the adulation.

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